A Nonfiction Writers’ Guide from the Nieman Foundation at Harvard University

Editor: Mark KramerEditor: Wendy Call

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Overview

Inspiring stories and practical advice from America’s most respected journalists

The country’s most prominent journalists and nonfiction authors gather each year at Harvard’s Nieman Conference on Narrative Journalism. Telling True Stories presents their best advice—covering everything from finding a good topic, to structuring narrative stories, to writing and selling your first book. More than fifty well-known writers offer their most powerful tips, including: • Tom Wolfe on the emotional core of the story • Gay Talese on writing about private lives • Malcolm Gladwell on the limits of profiles • Nora Ephron on narrative writing and screenwriters • Alma Guillermoprieto on telling the story and telling the truth • Dozens of Pulitzer Prize–winning journalists from the Atlantic Monthly, New Yorker, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post and more . . .

The essays contain important counsel for new and career journalists, as well as for freelance writers, radio producers, and memoirists. Packed with refreshingly candid and insightful recommendations, Telling True Stories will show anyone fascinated by the art of writing nonfiction how to bring people, scenes, and ideas to life on the page.

Table of Contents

Telling True StoriesAcknowledgmentsPreface

Part I: An Invitation to NarrativeStories Matter by Jacqui BanaszynskiDelving into Private Lives by Gay TaleseThe Narrative Idea by David HalberstamDifficult Journalism That’s Slap-Up Fun by Katherine Boo

Part II: Finding, Researching, and Reporting TopicsIntroduction by Mark Kramer and Wendy CallFinding Good Topics: A Writer’s Questions by Lane DeGregoryFinding Good Topics: An Editor’s Questions by Jan WinburnReporting for Narrative: Ten Overlapping Rules by Mark KramerTo Tape or Not to Tape? by Adam Hochschild, Jacqui Banaszynski, Jon Franklin, and Gay TaleseInterviewing: Accelerated Intimacy by Isabel WilkersonThe Psychological Interview by Jon FranklinParticipatory Reporting: Sending Myself to Prison by Ted ConoverBeing There by Anne HullNot Always Being There by Louise KiernanReporting Across Cultures by Victor MerinaReporting on Your Own by S. Mitra KalitaField Notes to Full Draft by Tracy KidderDoing Enough Reporting? by Walt HarringtonFrom Story Idea to Published Story by Cynthia Gorney(Narrative) J School for People Who Never Went by Adrian Nicole LeBlanc

Part III: Name Your SubgenreIntroduction by Mark Kramer and Wendy CallProfiles by Jacqui BanaszynskiThe Ladder of Abstraction by Roy Peter ClarkEvery Profile Is an Epic Story by Tomas Alex TizonThe Limits of Profiles by Malcolm GladwellTravel Writing: Inner and Outer Journeys by Adam HochschildThe Personal Essay and the First-Person Character by Phillip LopateFirst Personal Singular: Sometimes, It Is About You by DeNeen L. BrownColumns: Intimate Public Conversations by Donna BrittWriting About History by Jill LeporeAdventures in History by Melissa Fay GreeneNarrative Investigative Writing by Katherine BooPublic Radio: Community Storytelling by Jay Allison

Part IV: Constructing a StructureIntroduction by Mark Kramer and Wendy CallWhat Narrative Writers Can Learn from Screenwriters by Nora EphronTo Begin the Beginning by DeNeen L. BrownNarrative Distance by Jack HartHearing Our Subjects’ Voices: Quotes and Dialogue by Kelley BenhamHearing Our Subjects’ Voices: Keeping It Real and True by Debra DickersonWeaving Story and Idea by Nicholas LemannEndings by Bruce DeSilva

Part V: Building Quality into the WorkIntroduction by Mark Kramer and Wendy CallCharacter by Jon FranklinDetails Matter by Walt HarringtonDeveloping Character by Stanley NelsonReconstructing Scenes by Adam HochschildA Reconstructed Scene by Adam HochschildSetting the Scene by Mark KramerHandling Time by Bruce DeSilvaSequencing: Text as Line by Tom FrenchWriting Complicated Stories by Louise KiernanHow I Get to the Point by Walt HarringtonThe Emotional Core of the Story by Tom WolfeTelling the Story, Telling the Truth by Alma GuillermoprietoOn Voice by Susan Orlean

Part VI: EthicsIntroduction by Mark Kramer and Wendy CallThe Line Between Fact and Fiction by Roy Peter ClarkToward an Ethical Code for Narrative Journalists by Walt HarringtonPlaying Fair with Subjects by Isabel WilkersonSecuring Consent by Tracy KidderTruth and Consequences by Katherine BooDealing with Danger: Protecting Your Subject and Your Story by Sonia NazarioA Dilemma of Immersion Journalism by Anne HullEthics in Personal Writing by Debra DickersonTaking Liberties: The Ethics of the Truth by Loung UngThe Ethics of Attribution by Roy Peter ClarkWhat About Endnotes? by Sonia Nazario and Nicholas Lemann

Part VII: EditingIntroduction by Mark Kramer and Wendy CallOn Style by Emily HiestandA Writer and Editor Talk Shop by Jan Winburn and Lisa PollakRevising–Over and Over Again by Anne HullTransforming One Hundred Notebooks into Thirty-five Thousand Words by Sonia NazarioHow to Come Up Short by Tom HallmanNarrative in Four Boxes by Jacqui BanaszynskiSerial Narratives by Tom FrenchCare and Feeding of Editors and Writers by Jacqui Banaszynski

Part VIII: Narrative in the News OrganizationIntroduction by Mark Kramer and Wendy CallBeginning in Narrative by Walt HarringtonA Brief History of Narrative in Newspaper by Jack HartNurturing Narrative in the Newsroom by Jack HartA Storyteller’s Lexicon by Jack HartNarrative as a Daily Habit by Lane DeGregoryBuilding a Narrative Team by Maria CarrilloTwo Visions, One Series: A Writer and an Editor Talk About What They Do by Jacqui Banaszynski and Tomas Alex TizonTeam Storytelling by Louise KiernanPhotographer as Narrative Storyteller by Molly BinghamSubversive Storytellers: Starting a Narrative Group by Bob Batz Jr.

Part IX: Building a Career in Magazines and BooksIntroduction by Mark Kramer and Wendy CallMaking It as a Freelancer by Jim CollinsNot Stopping: Time Management for Writers by Stewart O’NanLessons from the Jury Box by Jack HartWorking with an Agent by Melissa Fay GreeneWhat Makes a Good Book? by Helene AtwanFrom Book Idea to Book Contract by Jim CollinsYour Book and the Marketplace by Geri ThomaCrossing Over: From Advocacy to Narrative by Samantha PowerA Passion for Writing by Susan Orlean

Suggested ReadingWeb Sites and Internet ResourcesAbout the EditorsAbout the ContributorsIndex